An entropy approach to the scaling of ordinal categorical data

This paper studies the problem of scaling ordinal categorical data observed over two or more sets of categories measuring a single characteristic. Scaling is obtained by solving a constrained entropy model which finds the most probable values of the scales given the data. A Kullback-Leibler statistic is generated which operationalizes a measure for the strength of consistency among the sets of categories. A variety of data of two and three sets of categories are analyzed using the entropy approach.This research was partially supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under grant AFOSR 83-0234. The support by the Air Force through grant AFOSR-83-0234 is gratefully acknowledged. The comments of the editor and referees have been most helpful in improving the paper, and in bringing several additional references to our attention.     

The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences

What are the positive and negative consequences of telecommuting? How do these consequences come about? When are these consequences more or less potent? The authors answer these questions through construction of a theoretical framework and meta-analysis of 46 studies in natural settings involving 12,883 employees. Telecommuting had small but mainly beneficial effects on proximal outcomes, such as perceived autonomy and (lower) work-family conflict. Importantly, telecommuting had no generally detrimental effects on the quality of workplace relationships. Telecommuting also had beneficial effects on more distal outcomes, such as job satisfaction, performance, turnover intent, and role stress. These beneficial consequences appeared to be at least partially mediated by perceived autonomy. Also, high-intensity telecommuting (more than 2.5 days a week) accentuated telecommuting's beneficial effects on work-family conflict but harmed relationships with coworkers. Results provide building blocks for a more complete theoretical and practical treatment of telecommuting.     

Boundaryless LMX: Examining LMX's Impact on External Career Outcomes and Alumni Goodwill

Research has convincingly shown that leader–member exchange (LMX) is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for employees within organizations. As employees increasingly pursue boundaryless careers that straddle multiple organizations, it is important to ask: Do advantages from LMX extend beyond the current organization and persist even after employees have left it? We propose that employees in higher quality LMX relationships with their managers benefit from stronger professional development, which can pay off in the form of better career outcomes on the external job market. Further, after leaving, whether or not ex‐employees (i.e., alumni) harbor goodwill toward their former organizations is likely to depend on their LMX quality prior to leaving. Alumni goodwill matters because organizations can potentially reap important strategic benefits from their alumni. Using time separated data including alumni interviews conducted by third‐party consultants, we find that, among employees who quit, pre‐turnover LMX is positively related to higher salaries and greater responsibility in their next jobs and is also positively related to alumni goodwill. Moreover, the strength of the LMX–alumni goodwill relationship depends on whether managers made robust retention efforts after employees communicated their decisions to quit.     

Of Intake and Outcomes: Wage Trajectories of Immigrant Classes in Canada

This study utilizes tabular data from the Canadian “Immigration Database” (IMDB) to look at the association between entry class and the wage earnings of immigrant cohorts arriving between 1990 and 2007. As expected, immigrants entering as skilled, principal applicants have the strongest earnings trajectories. Immigrants who enter under family or humanitarian considerations see more moderate earnings growth with government-assisted having the shallowest earnings trajectories.     

Community-Based Research in India: A Case Example of International and Transdisciplinary Collaboration

While there has been a trend toward greater disciplinary collaboration over the last several decades, the emergence of the HIV pandemic has required that disciplines work more closely and creatively to generate the multiple and innovative approaches necessary to meet the demands for effective prevention and treatment. This paper describes the nature of collaborative relationships among U.S. and Indian anthropologists, psychologists, demographers, epidemiologists, physicians and representatives of other fields and sectors in conducting a large scale, multi-year HIV/STD prevention project directed toward married men in urban poor communities in Mumbai (Bombay), India. The project has challenged members of the participating disciplines to develop a transdisciplinary conceptual model, to test the model with community-based formative research and to utilize the results in the development and implementation of a multi-level (community, provider and patient) intervention. The paper describes the interaction among disciplines and international sectors in the conceptualization, methodology and community-based action components of the project. In addition, it examines both the inhibiting and facilitating factors that are a part of the collaborative process. The paper concludes with implications for future transdisciplinary partnerships.     

Identity consistency and General Well-Being in college students

The study explored the relationship between Identity Consistency (IC) and General Well-Being (GWB) of the college students of Kolkata. The sample comprised of 65 (33 males, 32 females) college students. They were administered IC scale [prepared after Suh’s (2002) method] in order to obtain an index of IC and GWB was assessed using the PGI GWB Scale (Verma & Verma, 1989). For the present sample, as no significant difference have been found between males and females in any of the variables involved (i.e., IC and GWB), the two groups have been pooled together for further analyzes. Further statistical analyzes were done using correlation coefficient and linear regression. Results indicated that, IC has a significant positive correlation with GWB. Also, it was found that IC acts as a significant contributory variable for GWB.     

How We See Ourselves: A Resident’s Reflection on the Class Play

The “class play” is an annual tradition in residency training programs and medical schools that celebrates the end of the academic year. It is also a locally generated narrative that reveals important components of an institution’s values, culture, and group dynamics. Exploring the class play is a reflexive exercise that allows one to reflect on his or her professional development and place in the department in a structural, historical, and experience-near driven way. In this way, the creation of and examining of the class play may be seen as an opportunity to understand and expand upon medicine’s Hidden Curriculum.     

REFLECTIVE BORDERLINE GROUP THERAPY: THE PATIENTS' EXPERIENCE OF BEING BORDERLINE

This paper describes a novel 20-week psycho-educational group therapy for borderline patients. The therapy aims to stabilize the disorganized and chaotic presenting behaviours of the patients when they enter the borderline treatment service by providing a group psycho-educational programme based upon a psychodynamic appreciation of symptoms, causes, defences and affects. We think that borderline patients will only take in such understandings if they feel listened to and understood in a way that may not have been available to them as children. To do this, the therapists need to create a reflective space underpinned by psychodynamic thought and respecting the patient's experience of being borderline. The paper illustrates the difficulties encountered and discusses the importance of containing or modifying the counter-transference stresses felt by the therapists.

The authors also report on some recent outcome data collected from the running of the group programme over the last 4 years. Twenty borderline patients were able to complete the pre- and post-treatment self-report questionnaires. The results indicate some positive signs in extra-punitive symptom control and levels of impulsivity. Significant levels of improvement were noted in the BSI total scores (p=0.048) with particular reduction in interpersonal sensitivity (p=0.007) and the hostility (p=0.008) sub scores. Patients also reported a reduction in ‘feeling like’ scores on the Multi Impulsivity Scale – reflecting an improvement in internal affect triggers that might result in impulsive behaviours.

The authors discuss the potential value of this pragmatic model of care that is underpinned by psychoanalytic thinking, and its application to managing long waiting lists in psychotherapy services for borderline patients.     

Perceived Organisational Support as a Mediator of the Relationship of Perceived Situational Factors to Affective Organisational Commitment

This paper examines the role of perceived organisational support as a mediator of the relationship between perceived situational factors and affective organisational commitment. Perceived situational factors examined were: procedural justice, distributive justice, communication satisfaction with supervisor, and labor–management relationship climate. Analysis of data from a sample of 185 pharmaceutical sales representatives from India indicated that perceived organisational support fully mediates the relationship between each of these perceived situational variables and affective commitment to the organisation.     

Trying Hard or Hardly Trying: An Analysis of Context Effects in Choice

Several studies have shown that consumer choice is often influenced by the context or the set of alternatives under consideration. Context effects have largely been explained in terms of constructive preferences that are consistent with 2 theoretical accounts—effort minimization and perceptual contrast—that emphasize different underlying motivations. We propose that the effect of time pressure on context effects can be used as a moderating variable to determine which of the 2 motives is supported. Specifically, if context effects bias preferences due to effort minimization, time pressure should increase the magnitude of such effects. In contrast, if context effects arise due to an excessive focus on the relational characteristics of the alternatives provided, time pressure should reduce the magnitude of such effects. We examine this proposition in relation to the compromise effect and a choice between an extreme and an all‐average option. We find that the compromise effect and the preference for an all‐average alternative are both reduced under time pressure. A study using Mouselab provides additional support for the underlying decision mechanisms. We discuss the theoretical implications of this research and explore its consequences for marketers.